- Author: Lee Miller
The objectives are to:
- Raise full awareness among civil society and decision makers about the profound importance of soil for human life;
- Educate the public about the crucial role soil plays in food security, carbon sequestration, climate change adaptation and mitigation, essential ecosystem services, poverty alleviation and sustainable development;
- Support effective policies and actions for the sustainable management and protection of soil resources;
- Promote investment in sustainable soil management activities to develop and maintain healthy soils for different land users and population groups;
- Strengthen initiatives in connection with the SDG process (Sustainable Development Goals) and Post-2015 agenda;
- Advocate for rapid capacity enhancement for soil information collection and monitoring at all levels (global, regional and national).
Everyone who tends a plot of land can effect a change and make a difference in the future of the planet depending on how we care for soil. Understanding that is a living space for lots of kinds of life is a good start. For more information on soil ecology, click here.
By sequestering more carbon in the world's soils we can also mitigate climate change. Plowing up prairie and other soils has resulted in a loss of perhaps 50-70 percent of the carbon which oxidizes into CO2, a greenhouse gas.
We need to work at restoring carbon to the soil, by less tilling and other ways yet to be discovered. One way we gardeners can help is to make compost and use it liberally to restore soil organic content. Treat your soil well; it is a living resource that supports much of life on earth and it might be the carbon sink that helps mitigate the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere.